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Health Services Research in Oncology Part I: End-of-Life Care
Real-world data can provide information on the quality of health care and can inform health care system decisions. The present data analysis was focusing on the health care at the end of life of cancer patients, based on Austrian data (2012 to 2016) from all nine federal states. In the period under review, 283,228 persons with cancer diagnoses were admitted to a publicly financed hospital. Of these, about 29% (80,818) persons died. The proportion of patients who died in the inpatient sector was homogeneous across Austria (~61%) with the exception of Vienna. About 13% of deceased patients were admitted to the hospital two days before their death. With regard to the analysis of special oncological treatments (radiotherapy, chemotherapy and monoclonal antibodies) within 30 days before death, slight variabilities could be observed across the Austrian federal states.
Publication: LBI-HTA Project report No. 127: http://eprints.aihta.at/1233
Contact: Nicole Grössmann
Update 12 months follow-up: Nusinersen in spinal muscular atrophy ("late onset") in children and adolescents aged 6 years and more
In June 2017, Nusinersen (Spinraza®) was approved broadly – for all SMA Typologies (despite lack of evidence) – by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the treatment of chromosome 5q13 (5q)-associated SMA. The question of the update presented here is which scientific evidence from clinical intervention or observational studies for the medium (or long-term) benefit of Nusinersen (Spinraza®) in children and adolescents > 6 years with SMA "late onset" (SMA 2 + 3) is available. Three publications on the question (SMA 2 + 3 with a total of 40 patients) were identified. The available evidence for medium-term (> 12 months) follow-up data comes from a single prospective sponsor-funded ISIS CS12 study, as well as from a small retrospective study (of poor quality). Even after more than two years after the approval of Nusinersen, the evidence for this patient population is of extremely low quality, lacking validity.
Publication: Policy Brief No. 1: http://eprints.aihta.at/1228/
Contact: Claudia Wild
Health Services Research in Oncology: Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Treated with Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 Therapy in Real-World Practice. A Pilot Project in Cooperation with Tirol Kliniken GmbH & KAGes
Experience in routine clinical practice may differ from that seen in a controlled clinical trial. Although randomised clinical trials (RCTs) are considered to be the standard for generating clinical evidence, they lack generalisability to real-world evidence due to selected patient populations (strict and complex enrolment criteria). Therefore, the use of real-world evidence (RWE) to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of medical interventions is gaining interest. As there is limited evidence regarding the real-world effectiveness of immunotherapy in Austria, we conducted a retrospective pilot study in six Austrian hospitals to present data on patient characteristics, effectiveness and safety from real-world practice in an NSCLC population treated with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 monotherapy.
Publication: LBI-HTA Projektbericht Nr. 126: to be published soon
Contact: Claudia Wild
Minimum volume standards for quality assurance in day surgery
A possible measure for quality assurance in day surgery is minimum volume standards (MVSs). While the majority of research in this context observes a positive relationship between volume and outcome in the form of statistical correlation, the data availability on surgery specific and evidence-based minimum volume thresholds is low. Aims of the present report were to show the fundamentals of the MVSs theory, to illustrate possible internationally implemented MVSs frameworks in day surgery, and (in the course of a systematic review) to examine whether MVVs for specific day surgeries lead to better results in terms of efficacy and safety.
Publication: LBI-HTA Project report No. 125: https://eprints.aihta.at/1225/
Contact: Michal Stanak, Christoph Strohmaier
POCT/ Point of Care Tests: D-Dimer and Troponin
Troponin and D-dimer point of care tests can be used to aid the diagnosis of patients with symptoms suggestive of suspected acute coronary syndrome and venous thromboembolism respectively. Potential advantages of point of care tests include faster turnaround time, reduced length of stay and reduced unnecessary hospitalisation/further testing. This report aimed at evaluating the clinical benefit of these two point of care diagnostics in various settings. Two overview of reviews, two guideline synopsis and interviews with experts were hereby carried out.
Publication: LBI-HTA Project report 124: https://eprints.aihta.at/1224/
Contact: Gregor Goetz
Cervical Carcinoma Prevention - Implementation of an HPV screening test in the early detection of cervical cancer in Austria
Cervical cancer screening has been revolutionized by the discovery that nearly all cervical cancer diseases are caused by persistent infection with human (high-risk) papillomaviruses (HPV). Along with this, the development of new HPV-based test systems internationally led to a change in existing cervical carcinoma screening strategies. The purpose of this report was to provide a basis for the decision to implement the HPV test in cervical carcinoma screening in Austria.
Publication: LBI-HTA Project report No. 121: https://eprints.aihta.at/1223/
Contact: Eva Fuchs, Sarah Wolf
Screening programs for children and adolescents from 6 to 18 years. Results on selected countries, Austrian screening programmes and recommendations from evidence-based guidelines
This LBI-HTA report focuses on children and adolescents from 6 to 18 years and deals with 9 international screening services, 4 Austrian screening programmes and with screening and counselling recommendations from 59 evidence-based guidelines on a total of 25 diseases and risk profiles. Based on the guidelines, the report involves positive screening recommendations for 11 health threats. The country programmes resulted in consistent screenings with regard to body weight, height, dental diseases, visual and hearing disorders and mental disorders. In summary, thematic similarities between the guideline recommendations, the international practice examples and the 4 Austrian programmes were found.
Publication: LBI-HTA Project report No. 123 + Addendum report: https://eprints.aihta.at/1221
Contact: Roman Winkler / Inanna Reinsperger
Rehabilitation for children and adolescents in Austria: A systematic analysis of evaluation methodologies
Until a few years ago, there were no specially designed rehabilitation centres for children and adolescents in Austria, which differ from adult rehabilitation programmes with regard to the supply structure (e.g.; structural requirements or rehabilitation measures). In 2010, a need for a total of 343 beds for 11 indicator groups and an additional 50 beds for the relatives was indicated within the scope of the planning phase of the child and adolescent rehabilitation centres in four Austrian supply zones by 2020. The six newly built centres will now be evaluated on a regular basis. Therefore, the present report provides an overview of international evaluation methods and (standardised) evaluation instruments that can be used for future evaluations.
Publication: LBI-HTA Projektbericht No. 122: https://eprints.aihta.at/1222
Contact: Sarah Wolf, Roman Winkler
Horizon Scanning in Oncology - Reports
We are pleased to introduce our new HSO report.
DSD HSO No. 91
Pharma: Disclosure of transfers of value in austria 2018. Update of the systematic analysis 2015
In recent years, payments made by the pharmaceutical industry to doctors and medical institutions have increasingly been questioned critically. In a systematic analysis, the websites of all PHARMIG member companies (113) were once again searched for information on financial contributions to Austrian healthcare professionals and institutions in 2018. In 2018, a total of 138.3 million euros flowed from PHARMIG member companies to doctors and medical institutions as well as to clinical research and observational studies in Austria. In 2015, the total amounted to 104.1 million euros.
Although the number of Pharmig member companies declaring grants increased only slightly compared to 2015 (2015: 69/113, 2018: 76/115), in 2018 almost one third (32.8%) more grants were made - an increase of 34.2 million euros. In 2018, the share of donations to physicians in the total amount was 7% lower than in 2015. Since this figure corresponds exactly to the increase in the category research and development, a re-declaration can be assumed here. The actual willingness to disclose financial contributions, especially from doctors, is still low - the individual disclosure rate (by name) averaged only 21.1% (2015: 21.9%), which corresponds to 18.5% (2015: 17%) of the amounts paid out. In contrast, the willingness to disclose payments to medical institutions by name (institution) was still significantly higher on average at 49.4% (2015: 50.2%).
Publication: Rapid Assessment No. 7d/ 1. Update 2019: https://eprints.aihta.at/1218/
Contact: Ozren Sehic